In a hearing at London's High Court which lasted less than a minute, District Judge Anne Aitken granted the couple a decree nisi - the first legal step to ending their 10-year marriage.

Saatchi, 70, and Lawson, 53, now have to wait for a decree absolute, which is usually issued six weeks and a day later, which will finally end their marriage in September.

Court paperwork shows that Nigella Lucy Lawson applied to divorce Charles Saatchi on the grounds of his continuing unreasonable behaviour.

The marriage was said to have irretrievably broken down and an "order for financial relief" has been agreed between them.

Charles Saatchi was divorced after he was pictured grabbing Nigella's throat in a row

On the petition before court, Lawson had ticked "Yes" to the question: "Is the respondent's behaviour as set out in your petition continuing?"

Lawson also confirmed in the document that they were living apart. The document was signed by the popular cook and broadcaster on July 9.

Pictures were published last month showing Saatchi holding his wife by the throat as they had an argument on the terrace of a restaurant.

He dismissed the incident as nothing more than "a playful tiff" but then accepted a police caution for assault.

He said he had done so to stop the incident "hanging over" them. Lawson, who has subsequently been pictured without her wedding ring, has described him as "the exploder" in the past due to his temper.

Nigella pictured after leaving the London home she shared with Saatchi

“The couple parted after he was pictured with his hand round her throat during a row at a top London restaurant.”

Saatchi later told the Mail on Sunday that the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication".

But he also told the newspaper: "I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."

The couple confirmed they would not make any financial claims against the other, ruling out prolonged legal arguments.

That is one reason why the so-called "quickie divorce" has progressed so swiftly.